Abstract. This volume contains the proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Semantic Systems, SEMANTiCS 2022 under the title “Towards A Knowledge-Aware AI”. SEMANTiCS is the annual meeting place for professionals and researchers who make semantic computing work, who understand its benefits and encounter its limitations. Every year, SEMANTiCS attracts information managers, IT- architects, software engineers, and researchers from organizations ranging from research facilities, NPOs, through public administrations to the largest companies in the world.

Keywords. Semantic Systems, Knowledge Graphs, Artificial Intelligence, Semantic Web, Linked Data, Machine Learning, Knowledge Discovery

SEMANTiCS offers a forum for the exchange of latest scientific results in semantic systems and complements these topics with new research challenges in areas like data science, machine learning, logic programming, content engineering, social computing, and the Semantic Web. The conference is in its 18th year and has developed into an internationally visible and professional event at the intersection of academia and industry.

Contributors to and participants of the conference learn from top researchers and industry experts about emerging trends and topics in the wide area of semantic computing. The SEMANTiCS community is highly diverse attendees have responsibilities in interlinking areas such as artificial intelligence, data science, knowledge discovery and management, big data analytics, e-commerce, enterprise search, technical documentation, document management, business intelligence, and enterprise vocabulary management.

The conference’s subtitle in 2022 was “Towards A Knowledge-Aware AI”, and especially welcomed submissions to the following topics:

∙ Enterprise Linked Data & Data Integration

∙ Data Fabric: access and sharing of data in a distributed dataenvironment

∙ Knowledge Graphs

∙ Business models and Success Factors in applying Semantic Technologies

∙ Digital Twins and Industry 4.0

∙ VR augmented by Semantic Technologies

∙ Semantics on the Web & schema.org

∙ Terminology, Thesaurus & Ontology Management

∙ Knowledge Discovery, Semantic Search and Recommender Systems

∙ Smart Connectivity & Interlinking

∙ Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Applications

∙ Machine Learning, NLP & Semantic Computing as a combined approach

∙ Big Data & Advanced Analytics

∙ Explainable AI

∙ Semantically Enriched Digital Experience Platforms

∙ Data Governance and Data Quality Management

∙ Data Portals & Knowledge Visualization

∙ Economics of data, data services, data ecosystems and data strategies

∙ Community, Social & Societal Aspects

∙ Apps, services and industry demos that make use of any of the above mentioned topics

In order to properly provide high-quality reviews, a program committee comprising 114 members supported us in selecting the papers with the highest impact and scientific merit. For each submission, at least 3 reviews were written independently from the assigned reviewers in a single-blind review process (author names are visible to reviewers, reviewers stay anonymous). After all reviews were submitted the PC chairs compared the reviews and discussed discrepancies and different opinions with the reviewers to facilitate a meta-review and suggest a recommendation to accept or reject the paper. Overall, we accepted 15 papers which resulted in an acceptance rate of 29%. In addition to the peer-reviewed work, the conference had four renowned keynote Prof. Olaf Hartig (Associate Professor at Department of Computer and Information Science, Linköping University), Steve Moyle (Founder Amplify Intelligence, Fractional CIO at Freeman Clarke), Adam Keresztes (Business owner IKEA Knowledge Graph), and Jans Aasman (CEO of Franz Inc). Additionally, the program had posters and demos, a comprehensive set of workshops, as well as talks from industry leaders. For the first time in 2022 SEMANTiCS also hosted the co-located conference LT Innovate, an established community event for language and translational technologies. We thank all authors who submitted papers. We particularly thank the program committee which provided careful reviews in a quick turnaround time. Their service is essential for the quality of the conference.

Sincerely yours,

The Editors

Vienna, September 2022